Vietnam invests USD 3.97 million abroad in January

Vietnam invests USD 3.97 million abroad in January 03/02/2020 05:07:00 248

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(VNA) Vietnam reported a trade deficit of USD 100 million in January, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The GSO said the country’s exports reached USD 19 billion in January, a year-on-year drop of 15.8 percent while its imports hit USD 19.1 billion, a decrease of 14.4 percent.

The domestic sector reported an estimated trade deficit of USD 2.4 billion while the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector posted a trade surplus of USD 2.3 billion.

Goods that still witnessed increases included electronics, computers and components (USD 2.6 billion, up 5.6 percent), and timber and wooden products (USD 1 billion, up 1.4 percent).

Meanwhile, the exports of textiles and garments dropped by 21 percent to USD 2.6 billion, phones and their parts also worth USD 2.6 billion, down 22.4 percent; and footwear worth USD 1.6 billion, down 9.7 percent.

This month, importers spent USD 3.7 billion on electronics, computers and parts, down 8.5 percent from last January. They also spent USD 3.2 billion on machinery, equipment and components and USD 1.1 billion on phones and parts, as much as the reduction of 6.8 percent and down 9.5 percent respectively from last January.

Dropping 7.6 percent in the import from Vietnam in January, the US still remained the country’s largest export market spending USD 4.8 billion. Following were China with USD 3.7 billion, up 32.8 percent and the European Union with USD 2.6 billion, down 30.8 percent.

Also declining 7.1 percent in exports to Vietnam, China was the largest supplier with USD 6.2 billion of goods in January. Followers were the Republic of Korea with USD 3.2 billion and ASEAN with a combined value of USD 2.4 billion as much as the reduction of 22.8 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively compared to last January.

Experts said import and export activities were often influenced by the long holidays, especially the Lunar New Year that always sees a sharp rise in consumer goods imports, leading to a trade deficit.